When a Sensormatic hard tag or label attached to merchandise causes an electronic article surveillance alarm how do your employees respond? Approaching a customer at the doorway when they have activated an alarm can be intimidating for some people. In part 1 of this series I focused on why I believe it is important for store managers and owners to regularly conduct refresher training with all employees on how to attach tags and remove them from products. Failing to properly remove tags from merchandise that has been properly paid for can be a customer service nightmare. Shoppers feel embarrassed and may even get angry and create a scene. Some people get the purchase home and find a tag has not been removed and then have to go all the way back to the store to have it taken off. Oh, and don’t forget it will sound the alarm on them when they come back in to the store adding more fuel to the fire. I mentioned in part 1 that I have found regular refresher training for staff members is a useful tool to keep skills sharp that are not often used. You can apply this to Sensormatic alarm tower response in order to stop shoplifting or minimize the uproar over a missed tag or a label that was not deactivated.
One of the questions I am sure floating out there right now is, “How can a customer leave with a tag still attached or a label not deactivated if they are supposed to set off the alarm?” That is a fair question to ask. There are times when a Sensormatic hard tag is overlooked and customers will walk out with their purchase and yes, an alarm goes off but one of three things happens. First, there is a crowd of people entering or leaving at the same time and everyone looks around, assumes it was someone else who caused the alarm and they all keep walking. Second, the alarm went off and no one bothered to walk over to assist the customer or they just waved and said all is fine. Third, the towers could be in need of service, working intermittently but no one does a daily test before opening for the day and the problem goes unnoticed. One customer may leave and the alarm sounds while another customer leaves with tagged items and nothing happens.
There are easy remedies to address the malfunctioning system, simply test the towers and deactivation pads on a daily basis. If something is not working, place a service request in to minimize the down time, especially if it is the towers. Tower issues can hurt efforts to stop shoplifting and if not addressed quickly shoplifters will learn about it and take advantage of your store. Training employees to answer a Sensormatic tower alarm can be a bit harder. The reason stems from the discomfort that can come with having to confront someone. Whether the customer is pleasant or angry there is always an unknown factor that can be uncomfortable and people can turn from calm to cranky in a moment. My recommendation for training your employees is to do scenarios and have them walk through an alarm activation. While it may seem corny to some, I promise you that simulations are the best way to train. I don’t always remember something I heard in a classroom but if I have to participate I have a higher rate of memory retention. Like my CPR training, I can watch the video in the classroom but it doesn’t sink in until I am doing chest compressions and practicing with an AED device. Here are some tips to help you with Sensormatic tower alarm response training:
• Use real tagged merchandise. This will make the situation more realistic.
• Hide merchandise in a purse, backpack or shopping bag and make employees determine what is causing the alarm. Scenarios should range from a forgetful shopper to a shoplifter attempting to steal.
• Have different employees play the role of customer. It lets your employees get the feeling your customers have when an alarm is unintentionally activated.
• Have your “customers” role play with different attitudes from pleasant to ugly.
After you have role played allow all of the employees an opportunity to critique what happened. As they talk through scenarios they will learn how to handle various situations including how to stop shoplifting.
Training employees can make electronic article surveillance alarms caused by Sensormatic hard tags less intimidating to deal with. In the process your staff will be better prepared to make recoveries and ultimately add profit back to the store.
For more information about Sensormatic hard tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
